Benicia High’s baseball team moved one step closer to a Sac-Joaquin Section championship after beating Del Campo, 9-4, in last Saturday’s Game 1 of a best-of-3 Division II semifinal series at American River College.

The Panthers (17-12), winners of six straight games dating back to the regular season, returned to American River College again on Monday needing only one more victory over No. 2 seed Del Campo (20-9) to reach the Division II championship game. Benicia, the No. 3 seed, is looking for its second Section championship in the past three years and its third in the past six years.

The Panthers received contributions from throughout their lineup in the Game 1 victory as nine different players scored a run or drove in a run. Maurice Calhoun went 3-for-3 with three runs and a RBI while Makoa Copp, Xian Covington-Hunt and Alex Osterholt each drove in a pair.

Benicia starting pitcher Riley Pitkin threw a complete game to earn the victory, scattering seven hits without walking a batter and striking out six. Only three of Del Campo’s four runs were earned. Benicia struck for two runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed. Copp started the game by reaching safely on an error and Joey Daini followed with a RBI double. After an infield pop out, Steve Urias singled to left to score Daini for a 2-0 lead.

The Panthers added another run in the second inning when Calhoun was hit by a pitch, advanced to second and scored on a two-out single to left by Osterholt. Doubles by Tim Butler and Nick Dawson and a single by Tyler Paplanus led to two Del Campo runs in the bottom of the second, but Benicia answered with two more runs in the top of the fourth thanks to singles by Copp, Calhoun and Isiah Saguar, giving Benicia a 5-2 lead.

Del Campo tried to get back in it, scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth to pull within 5-4, but Osterholt doubled home pinch-runner Josiah Peterson in the top of the sixth and Benicia added two insurance runs in the seventh on a RBI double by Calhoun and a RBI single by Covington-Hunt.

The winner of the Benicia/Del Campo series will face the winner of the Vanden/Bella Vista series in the championship game at Sacramento City College on Memorial Day. No. 1 seed Bella Vista beat No. 5 seed Vanden, 4-3, in Game 1 last Saturday.

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